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Behavioral and Biochemical Correlates of Alcohol Drinking Preference: Studies on the Selectively Bred P and NP Rats
Author(s) -
Lumeng Lawrence,
Murphy James M.,
McBride William J.,
Li TingKai
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
australian drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0819-5331
DOI - 10.1080/09595238880000061
Subject(s) - alcohol , ethanol , nucleus accumbens , serotonin , endocrinology , medicine , psychology , chemistry , biochemistry , dopamine , receptor
The alcohol‐preferring P and alcohol‐nonpreferring NP lines of rates have been selectively bred and used to study the behavioral and biochemical correlates of alcohol‐seeking behavior. The P rats satisfy all the perceived criteria for an animal model of alcoholism. Specifically, free‐fed P rats voluntarily drink alcoholic solutions (10 to 30% v/v) to intoxication; they bar‐press to obtain alcohol and self‐administer ethanol intragastrically when food and water are available; and they acquire metabolic and neuronal tolerance and develop physical dependence when they drink alcohol chronically in a free‐choice situation. The spontaneous motor activity in the P rats, but not in the NP rats, is stimulated acutely by low doses of alcohol. With a single hypnotic dose of ethanol, acute tolerance develops faster and to a greater degree and persists many days longer in the P than in the NP rats. These differences in response to ethanol may explain the disparate alcohol drinking behaviors of the P and NP rats. Biochemically, the P rats exhibit decreased serotonin levels in several brain regions including the nucleus accumbens. Serotonin uptake inhibitors curtail the alcohol drinking of the P rats suggesting a role of serotonin in mediating alcohol preference.